Are their d2d presentations good enough to convert?

by highdose 18 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Finally-Free

  The JWs that came to my home in the 1970's were a lot more adept in their "preaching" and actually put some effort into it. My mother converted and I did a few years later. By the mid 1980's no one in the congregation appeared to put any effort into it, myself included. I didn't want a "bible study" with anyone. I had no time. By that time I was also disillusioned with the "love" in the congregation, and didn't really want to inflict that environment on anyone. I didn't want to convince people to dump their "worldly" families and friends in favour of an emotional vacuum.

  I deliberately gave shitty presentations at the doors.

  W
• 

  JWoods

  I do not think I know of a single convert that was made by strictly from cold via a door to door contact.

  It is almost always by incidental contact, friends of relatives, friends of friends, etc.

  If they did FIND the convert going door to door - most likely they were already witness aware and/or favorable from some prior contact.
• 

  OUTLAW

  Considering Jehovah`s Witness`s don`t like to tell you who they are..

  And..

  Tell you they are busy,if you ask them tough Questions..

  Then leave..

  I have know idea how they figure D2D is effective..

  Jehovah`s Witness`s may as well knock on your door and Say:

  "We`re a pair of idiots who can`t tell you who we are and we`re busy..So we have to go..Bye!!.."

  ........................... ...OUTLAW
• 

  serenitynow!

  My presentation was never about converting people, it was about generating enough interest to place the magazines. I really didn't like return visits, too much preparation. I only had one BS ever, and I stopped it when the study showed up drunk.
• 

  Galileo

  No offense intended WasBlind. In all fairness I'm sure there are plenty of non mentally ill people that convert for a variety of reasons - for a time. In a way you have proven my point, at least the point I was aiming at although I may have been wide of the mark. You "converted", but once you learned more of the facts, you deconverted. That is definitely evidence of a well functioning intellect. I don't think many on this site would likely fit the criteria of the "mentally off" people I was describing, because by definition the vast majority of those on this site have thought their way out of the cult or are in the process of doing so.
• 

  undercover

  My mother was a door-to-door convert. She's not mentally simple, but not overly logical either. Something they said appealed and she investigated and she liked it.

  But this was a long, long time ago, when door to door presentations involved more than flashing the WT logo and grunting a few words. This was when a JW would read two or three scriptures and tie it into whatever presentation they were using and then pull out the mags or a book, or go right for the jugular by offering a study. Much more complicated...and it required a measure of understanding on the JW.

  Today's dubs are pretty dumb-downed...while the people they are calling are more educated and have instant access to knowledge not easily available back when JWs appeared all-knowing.

  While the door to door might have worked from the late 40s through the 60s, it's out of date and backwards compared to all the technological ways of getting information out into the marketplace.
• 

  purplesofa

  I was converted from D2D visit.

  After the initial presentation, (whatever that was)

  We talked for an hour, she knew her stuff.

  After agreeing to a bible study I asked

  What religion are you?

  She never mentioned being a JW or Jehovah for the whole presentation,

  Never pulled out a WT or Awake, only used the bible.

  I was impressed, she answered all my questions.

  I was searching, you know, sighing and groaning over the detestable things going on.

  She also was a convert, well-educated, came from a wealthy family in our area.

  She had the means to pioneer. Was looking and working for bible studies.

  She became like a mother to me.

  Of course, we lost touch when I was DF, but did reunite when I was reinstated.

  We had both moved to different states, so nothing was too much the same.

  Still a dear lady to me.

  purps
• 

  TD

  I'm sure canvassing door to door was fairly effective in the 30's and 40's. Everything from hairbrushes to vacuum cleaners were sold that way and people actually enjoyed being called on. It was an interesting diversion to break up the day. Very few people even had televisions then and those that did got 3 or 4 black and white channels during the daylight hours.

  Knocking on someone's door today instantly puts them on the defensive. People that call you your door now are either soliciting money or promoting a scam of some sort.
• 

  Quentin

  It was different in the 50s and 60s, early 70s too. jw's were prepared to move from one bible topic to another in a flash. HH questions were answered on the spot, none of this "I'll get back to you, ect." Most kh's covered their territory in a timely and complete manner. My parents were d2d converts in 1953. During that time, 1950-early 70s, it was not unusual to spend 10-15min at the door, longer if the jw felt the HH showed real interest, or, you could get a good debate on.

  We've lived in this small town since 1984. Have been called on maybe three or four times. Mormans come around all the time, jw's scarce as hen's teeth.